Accommodation: Used as a term in Piaget’s cognitive development theory, accommodation is the process of adjusting the status of information that has already been learned for the purpose of acquiring new information. See: Assimilation
Example: Joey grew up thinking that the moon was a source of light just like the sun. However, Joey took a science class in junior high and learned that the source of the moon’s light actually originates from the sun. Here, before Joey could accept this new information cognitively, he needs to accommodate by adjusting his initial understanding of the moon as no longer a light-emitting object in space.
Resources:
http://psychology.about.com/od/glossaryfromatoz/g/Accommodation.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-A9SgbAK5I
Accretion: The gradual accumulation of knowledge through the course of normal everyday occurrences. Each new bit of information acquired often has no relation to other accumulated knowledge. See: tuning and restructuring
Example: Today I learned new things by accretion when I learned from my girlfriend that the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots died, that the woman who was involved in the San Bernadino mass shooting the other day had connections to ISIS, and that I have a wild rat hiding in my apartment who is eating food that is left out. All of this information was accumulated not through active learning but passive learning and thus considered accretion.
Resources:
http://www.dsoergel.com/UBLIS571DS-06.1a-1Reading10RumelhartAccretionTuningAndRestructuring.pdf
http://www.instructionaldesign.org/theories/modes-learning.html
ARCS: Also known as Keller’s model of motivational design, this theory of learning suggests that people acquire knowledge best when they see value in the knowledge and they have a high expectation that that knowledge will benefit them. Four key terms for this theory of learning are: attention, relevance, curiosity, and satisfaction.
Example: According to ARCS, I will acquire the most amount of knowledge from Dr. Bonks P540 class if I believe that the information he has to share is valuable and that I will be able to use it for my benefit in the future. However, if I do not see much value in learning about theories of learning or even the field of psychology as a whole, I will likely not take away much from his class.
Resources:
http://torreytrust.com/images/ITH_Trust.pdf
Affordance: used to characterize the impact of the environment on an organism’s behavior, or how it lives in its environment. Cognitivists among others use this term.
Example: My laptop computer affords me the opportunity to access the Internet and all the information that Dr. Bonk has uploaded onto OnCourse. Thus my laptop is part of my environment and affords me the behavior of a 21st century student in the US.
Resources:
http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Affordance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK1Zb_5VxuM
Anchoring: A bias that occurs when a preference is given to the first piece of information that a person is given despite being exposed to subsequent information. This can be a negative effect when the first piece of information is not representative of the entire picture.
Example: Sue watches an advertisement that states one of the presidential candidates used to smoke cannabis when he was younger. This initial piece of information influences her view of the candidate in a negative fashion. From this point forward, despite the fact that the candidate no longer has that lifestyle, Sue continues to think of the candidate negatively when faced with new information that would have made her think positively of him had she not first heard the initial information.
Resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZpJrDpCnEY
Anxiety: An emotion that typically causes fear, worry, and can have the physical effect of raising blood pressure. Anxiety has the potential to negatively impact the learning process.
Example: When I am faced with giving presentations in class I find it difficult to learn my speech/material due to high anxiety levels because I fear making mistakes in front of an audience.
Resources:
http://www.apa.org/topics/anxiety/
http://psychology.about.com/od/mentalhealth/a/test-anxiety.htm
Assimilation: Used by Piaget to describe what happens when an individual incorporates new information with existing information potentially without altering the existing information. This is different than accommodation partly in that the new information may not change the status of the old information. A common effect of assimilation is the emergence of stereotypes due to the preexisting beliefs we hold. See: Accommodation
Example: When Jimmy was a child he learned that cats have fur, four legs, and a tail. One day Jimmy comes across a ferret and uses the old information he learned about cats to assimilate his initial incoming knowledge of the ferret. This leads Jimmy to assume that the ferret is a cat as well because it has all the same characteristics of a cat that he had initially learned.
Resources:
http://psychology.about.com/od/aindex/g/assimilation.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-A9SgbAK5I
Association: The process of linking pieces of information that share similar traits. This can be useful for learning more efficiently because it is easier to access knowledge when it is associated with similar knowledge. Association is a term used by Behaviorists to describe how making a connection between a stimulus and a response can reinforce behavior.
Example: I associate brake lights on a car in front of me by reacting with putting my foot on my car’s break pedal. This learned association has helped me avoid countless accidents.
Resources:
http://www.alleydog.com/glossary/definition.php?term=Association%20Theory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWr10fn5c_o
Attribution theory: First described by Fritz Heider, this theory describes the phenomena where individuals make judgments about causes of events by implicating internal or external factors that may or may not be relevant. Attribution has the potential to negatively impact the learning process.
Example: I took a calculus class as part of my undergraduate course load. I did not do as well as I had hoped because it was extremely difficult for me. This lead me to attribute all math classes to the difficulty of the calculus class causing me to overgeneralize and say that I find all math difficult.
Resources:
http://www.psychwiki.com/wiki/Attribution_Theory
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAp5pmQqqDk
Automaticity: This happens when information can be retrieved without much effort and behavior can then be performed similarly without needing to think too hard about retrieving the information. Sometimes automaticity results in routine. Automaticity has the potential to be problematic because it can cause a loss of control over behaviors.
Example: I used to hear my favorite song on the radio multiple times a day and sang along to it. Now, ten years later, whenever I hear the first few notes of the song I automatically can recall the lyrics without effort.
Resources: